More PJ's for the kiddos!!

I got a new sewing machine after mine broke right in the middle of my projects that were Christmas gifts for the kids! The Singer broke a week before we left for vacay and since we were there over Christmas, that was the only week I had to finish their presents. It pretty much sucked. So- after taking the machine back to Target and researching the machines at Walmart, Target, and Jo-anns... I decided to go back to Luke's Sewing Center and purchase a high-end machine. I got their lowest end new machine which is a Husqvarna Viking Emerald 116. I am really pleased with it. Although my Singer was great while it lasted, the timing went off within a month. It pretty much couldn't do all the sewing I wanted it to do. So- off to bigger and better (in my opinion). The Singer was an electronic model which was super easy to use... The Viking is a mechanical machine. Definitely takes alot longer to learn how to use properly, but I think it will hold up better in the long run. Apparently, Notre Dame Academy, (an all-girls high school in the area) uses these exact machines in their home economics department. So- yay!! I finished up two of the three pj pants for the kids. Addison and Jenna are here to model them for you! Enjoy!

New bag for Piano lessons...

Jenna was given piano lessons as a Christmas present this year. Since Addison already takes from Sis. Smith, we asked her to teach Jenna too. The girls are super excited and I actually think this might motivate them to practice more. They are super-competitive when it comes to stuff like this! I made Addison a bag for her piano books and so it came time to make Jenna a bag as well. I took a cheap ($3.99) burlap bag from Hobby Lobby which was trimmed out in red. Then I found some cute fabric for under $1 and sewed the fabric onto the existing pocket of the bag. It took some disassembling and some time, but I think it turned out okay-looking...especially if you don't look close at my stitches!! :)I even added extra fabric where the flowers are and sewed on a button on top for the middle. I think it turned out adorable!!

From Ugly to Punk!!

So, here is my first attempt at "reconstructing". I took this shirt that someone handed down to Taesun that I thought was quite old in style with the sleeves the way they were, so I disassembled the sleeves and found that I could make a short sleeve dress for Jenna. Then I thought of how a boutique selling "Harley Davidson" clothes for kids would make a dress look. I decided to grunge it up, punk it up, whatever you want to call it.... and take the orange parts from the sleeve and use it as a tie. The black parts from the sleeve I made into a long strip which ended up as the belt to hold the tie in place. It turned out better than I thought it would. For a first attempt, I am happy with it. Now to figure out where I'll allow Jenna to sport a "Harley Davidson" original around town....

Christmas Eve Dinner and Christmas Morning...

Here's what it looked like on Christmas morning!!! The elf on top of the tree is "Adam" the elf who is our "Elf on the Shelf". Google the book if you don't know what I'm talking about. The plate had some chocolate chip cookies made that night on it and a tall glass of milk which Santa drank and ate right up!! The tree is an entirely different story.

For Christmas Eve, we ate at Gigi's Italian restaraunt. It was closeby and we still had to do some grocery shopping for Christmas day before the stores closed (at 7pm). Gigi's was quite good. The best part of it was the beautiful Christmas tree they had on display. A full-sized tree decorated with lights and ornaments stood in the waiting area. I took Tae to look at it and said, "Look closely because this is the only Christmas tree you'll see this Christmas Eve..." A nearby person, (who happened to own the place) asked where we were staying. I politely told her, "Sunset Vistas" and she then said, "Why don't you take the little tree right here and use this as your Christmas tree this year. You can drop it off in a few days. No one is going to miss it around here!!" What a sweetie!

Captain Memo's Pirate Ship Cruise

Rob and I decided to take the kids on a very special cruise this year aboard a pirate ship. As soon as we went aboard, they handed each kid a pirate hat and a gun. It was a "real-looking" cap gun without caps. They had a blast "shooting" each other and us as well. This is before we got on the boat. There it is in all it's majesty.

Rusty Rachet, the wench aboard, read the kids a story. There was alot of time where they entertained the kids and let the grown-ups have some alone time. After the story, they found some hidden treasure, did a watergun fight with the parents, told pirate stories and found a washed-up enemy of Capt. Memo who they fought, got our faces painted, danced, and did a round of musical chairs where Jenna came in fourth place. She was the last girl standing which was quite impressive to all who witnessed it.

The Beautiful Pirate Ship and Amazing View of Dolphins

Here is a view of the "poop deck" where the captain steers the ship. It was quite impressive. Rob and I looking snazzy as ever!

Yep...you guessed. Dolphins right outside our ship. They would stay in front of the ship as though they were guiding it. Kind of like Santa's reindeers, I suppose.

Another pic of the dolphins. There were at least three that we saw up close.

Pirate Fun!

All aboard Captain Memo's you get your face painted whether you want it painted or not! It was fun to be a pirate for a day... I suppose. The kids sure liked seeing mom and dad dressed up in pirate fashion.

These were our pirate faces. I look half-retarded, but the pic of Tae was cute. He's holding up his treasure he found on the ship.

More treasure found by these mini-pirates. They were all saying, "Aarrgh" while posing.

Captain Memo's Dance Party

Aboard the ship, towards the end of our journey, the kids got to participate in a dance party onboard. Jenna LOVED it and got to show off her cool moves. She did the YMCA, Chicken Dance, Macarena, Congo line, Limbo, and got to play tamborines. Tae joined in too, but Jenna stole the show.

Christmas Eve...

Here we are waiting on the pirate ship cruise to let us on board. We decided to go across the street in Clearwater to a park at their marina. It was awesome! The best part was the crystal white sugar sand that was everywhere. The beach and boardwalk were right there too and we got to see their beach. It was amazing!! Definitely more crowded than where we were staying, but when we go back, we'll definitely be spending some time here!! They had a jumping contraption for the kids, a giant water slide (for when it's warmer), and lots of climbing rocks. This is also where Jenna got her smoothie and the rest of the kids got treats as well. The seagulls were so bad here that the ice cream man at the ice cream store told us to make sure we stay under the overhang or if we have to walk the boardwalk, we needed to cover our ice cream with our hands and walk inbetween two people who are not eating. Otherwise- the birds would eat the ice cream. This is also where I wish we had brought our video camera!! There was this lady who was sitting in the open with a sandwich and the birds were all over her. As soon as she'd take a bite, the birds would swoop in and steal part of her sandwich. She became extra cranky and we all thought it was hillarious!

Seafood Night

Although Rob and I got shrimp cocktail as soon as we could in Florida, we still wanted some great seafood. We decided to go to this restaraunt that a lot of families seem to enjoy there. Although I forget the name, (my girls say it's PJ's?) it was unforgettable!! The surroundings were great. Majorly eclectic and fun. Reminded me of Terry's Surf Club in Cincy- only a seafood restaraunt instead of a burger joint.... This is what Tae enjoyed most of the wait before we got our table... Jenna had bought a cute purse earlier that day and wanted to bring it to dinner. Here she is showing it off...

The girls outside of the restaraunt... with Frosty and Santa.